Fan Letters
by riley-poole27
Summary: Riley and Ben find an adventure through a stack of fan letters.
1. Chapter 1

It was an incredibly warm day for November, Riley Poole thought to himself as he walked down the busy city street. He was heading to the grocery store to pick up some supplies. He had his earbud headphones plugged in, and didn't notice when a man called out to him. It was only when someone grabbed his shoulder that he turned to face the man, a slightly annoyed expression marking his face.

"What the heck-" Riley's face quickly changed from annoyance to surprise when he realized that the man who had grabbed his shoulder was his friend, Ben Gates.

"Ben," Riley murmured, wrapping his arms around his friend.

When Riley pulled away from the hug, he realized that Ben was clearly speaking to him, as he could see his lips move. Riley quickly yanked off his headphones, and shoving it, along with his ipod into his jacket pocket in a jumbled mess. "Sorry, what were you saying?" Riley asked him, smiling apologetically.

"I need your help." Ben told him, as they both started walking down the street towards the grocery store. Riley kicked a few orange leaves with his hightops and grinned.

"Is this like a break-into-your-house type help, or a treasure type help?" Riley questioned Ben, smirking lightly.

They continued walking, as Ben pondered the question. "Since we found the treasure of Cibola, I've received many letters from fans asking for help to find treasures all over the world. Most of these are urban legends or just frauds. But there were a few that caught my attention."

As Ben started to talk, Riley grabbed a shopping cart, and started to look through the weekly flyer. They moved further into the store, coming to a standstill in the middle of the produce aisle. "Are you planning on pursuing any of these stories?"

Ben grinned at him, his eyes lit up with excitement. " Of course."

It never took much convincing on Ben's part to get Riley to help him out. He could say the most outlandish statements like "I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independance", which saner people would have laughed and walked away. But Riley could never turn his back on his friend. He knew how crazy Ben sounded sometimes, but he also knew that his best friend wasn't all talk. He produced results. If he said that he was going to do a task(no matter how insane or impossible it may be), There was no doubt in Riley's mind that it would be done.

They spent twenty minutes collecting everything Riley needed, before hauling the groceries back to his apartment. Ben sat at the kitchen table and started to sort through some of the letters that he'd brought with him, while Riley quickly put away all his groceries.

His apartment was a tiny bachelor apartment, with a horrible view. Apart from his extensive collection of electronics filling his entire living room, everything else he owned was pre-owned. There was an ancient armchair which he used to watch TV, and a scratched up dresser filled with clothes, and a beat-up table with two mismatched chairs. He sat down across from Ben at the tiny kitchen table, the pile of letters neatly stacked in the centre of the table in front of him. He put his reading glasses on, then gave Ben a tiny smile.

"Ok Ben, show me the letters."


	2. Chapter 2

Riley picked up the first envelope, and pulled the letter out. His eyebrows shot up to his forehead after reading some of the crazy things people had been writing about. "These theories...Oh My God. Some of these are so weird. Some of these people claim aliens abducted them...one guy here says he has proof that his family owns a real Stradavarius violin. Dream on, man"

Ben sat back in his chair across from Riley, and put his fingers up to his mouth, in deep thought. It took Riley a while to get through the entire stack of letters, but when he was done he looked up at Ben, and handed him a sky blue envelope with spidery old writing. "This is the one I would choose out of all of them."

It was the same letter that Ben had already chosen beforehand. When he saw the envelope in Rileys hand, he raised his eyebrows. He couldnt help give a tiny smile.

It was written by an old lady named Mrs. Harsham. She claimed that she had an old family heirloom that supposedly led to an incredible treasure. Unfortunately, she didnt specify what this treasure was, as she insisted that she must tell the rest of her story in person. Even though she hardly gave any information, it intrigued both Ben and Riley. Her letter was the only one that actually appeared to be about a legitimate treasure, instead of the outlandish stories that most people had written about.

They found themselves at door an hour later, after having driven across the city to one of the older districts in town. house was a nice-looking townhouse with hanging flowerpots on the front porch.

Ben knocked sharply on the door twice, but there was no response. He turned to Riley, who shrugged. "Maybe she's out," Ben knocked a third time, and was turning to leave when someone answered. Mrs. Harsham ws an elderly lady with a thin patch of white hair haloed on her head. Her brown eyes darted from Ben's face to Riley's.

Ben quickly introduced themselves, and Mrs. Harsham invited them inside. They sat down on the white and red striped loveseat, while She sat in a matching armchair across from them. They made casual smalltalk and drank tea out of fragile looking flowered teacups.

Riley zoned out after a while, and busied himself looking around the living room, which was cluttered with photographs of family members, and tiny figurines. It reminded him of visiting his Nan. He was staring at the photos on the wall, nibbling on shortcake cookies, when he realized that Mrs. Harsham was talking to him.

"...Riley think its great that you are helping your dad with looking for old treasures. It must be nice to have such a great relationship with him."

Dad? Riley snickered a little, glancing up at Ben. "No, Im sorry Mrs. Harsham. Bens not my dad. Hes my best friend."

"Oh, Im so sorry. I just thought you were his son because you were so young."

"Im twenty-six." Riley told her, slightly miffed. "I'm not a little kid"

This time it was Bens turn to snicker at his friends expense.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Ben shot Riley a look, before turning back to Mrs. Harsham. "Sorry, ma'am. My friend is a little sensitive about his age. Don't take his pouting seriously. Please, tell us about the treasure."

She took a deep breath before starting her story.


	3. Chapter 3

"My great-great grandmother was born in Belgium and got married in the spring of 1840. At that time, her uncle was living in a monastery. While he was there, he found out that there was a series of books taken from the Abbey of Orval. The Abbey had been burnt down in 1793 by the french, because it had provided hospitality for the Austrian troops. Each monk was given a book from the collection to protect, in hopes that the Abbey would one day reopen.

My great-great grandparents decided they wanted to move to North America. They took their daughter, and moved out of Belgium in the summer of 1853. As a parting gift, her uncle gave her the book for safe-keeping, believing that it would be safer across the ocean.

At her death in 1890, she passed the book onto her daughter, warning her to keep it safe. The book was passed from family member through the ages, until it came to my parents. They were worried about keeping such a rare book in the apartment, so they kept it hidden under the floorboards. It was a very rough neighbourhoood, and they didn't want anyone to break in and find it.

My father was a construction worker, and was hired on to help build a series of tunnels underneath this city, Baltimore. My mother realized that this was an opportunity to keep it safe for as long as she needed. After spending months building underground tunnels deep under the city, and when the project was nearing completion, my grandmother gave him the book. He took it deep under the city with him, and hid it in a secret panel built into one of the walls.

At the time I was only a small child, so I never knew of the book's existence. My mother passed this story onto me before her death, including the original blueprints drawn up by my grandfather.

My grandson Peter has been searching for this book for the last two years, but he can't find it anywhere. I requested your help because I want you to help him find him the book. I believe it is still down there, and I want to know that it is safe, and in a museum. I am very old, so I'll die in a few years.

Of course you will be paid handsomely for your time. However, I do wish that you will work alongside my grandson, and that you will share the fame of finding it with him. He has worked hard those two years."

The entire time spoke, both Riley and Ben were in rapt attention to her every word. They were intrigued, and they wanted to find out more.

"In fact, if you two are interested in starting right away, I can tell you where my grandson is right now." She wrote down the address of an irish pub a few blocks away, explaining that Peter went there every Friday evening with his workmates.

They thanked her for the tea, then before they left to find her grandson, everyone exchanged phone numbers. Riley quickly put in his contact list.

When they got to the pub, Ben went to the counter to buy a coke, and a hard lemonade. Riley snagged a booth at the back of the pub. It was starting to fill up, as there was some sort of live band starting in an hour. When Ben returned with the drinks, he handed Riley his hard lemonade, before sitting across from him.

"What do you think of Mrs. Harsham?" Ben asked him, raising his voice a little over the crowd. "Her story was really interesting. I wonder which one here is her grandson."

Riley stood up and quickly scanned the room. He finally stopped when he saw a familar brown-haired man sitting with a few older guys. He sat back down, and took a gulp from his drink, giving Ben a smug grin.

"Do you see that brown-haired guy across the room,the one sitting at the bar. I believe that's Peter, Mrs. Harsham's grandson."

Ben frowned a little, looking at his younger friend quizzically. "Why him?"

"I recognize him from the family pictures on her living room wall. It looks like it was only taken a few years ago, he looks the same as in the pictures."

Ben stood up. "I'm going to go ask him to sit with us, so we can talk. Stay here and watch our drinks." Riley kept drinking his lemonade as he watched Ben strike up a conversation with the man. After a few minutes, the conversation moved to the booth. Ben and Peter sat side by side across from Riley, while one of Peter's friends slid in beside Riley.

Everyone introduced themselves around the table. Ben Gates, Riley Poole, Peter Wallace , and Peter's friend Matthew Tobias.

Both Peter and Matthew looked about thirty five. Peter was tall and slender with thick brown hair, and a pleasant smile. Matthew was a bit shorter and stockier, with a buzzcut. He had a permanent frown on his face.

It was a bit of tight squeeze for the four of them in the booth. Ben and Peter looked fairly comfortable on their side, but because Matthew was much larger then Riley, it meant that Riley was pressed uncomfortably into the wall. Also, him and Ben were fighting for leg space under the table. Ben's longer legs were winning by far.

Ben and Peter started talking about the blueprints and tunnels right away. They were so engrossed in their conversation, Riley and Matthew sat quietly across from them.

After a few minutes, Riley looked up at Matthew. "So... Matthew. Are you into treasure-hunting as well?" Matthew nodded.

"What about you? How long have you and the famous Ben Gates been working together?" Matthew asked this question with a quick look across the table. It was clear that he was a fan of Ben, by the adoration in his eyes.

"Ages. Way before the Cibola and Templar treasure. Have you ever been in the tunnels with Peter?"

"Yeah, a few times. Never found anything, though."

"What's your specialty? Ben is a major history buff. I'm into computers, more behind the scenes work."

Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Not really any specialty. Mostly I just help Peter because we've been friends since high school."

"Huh. Cool."

Their conversation petered out after that, so they just sat in silence until Ben was finished. The live band was starting, and the bar was really full at this point. It was time to go, so Peter wrote down his cell phone number and gave it to Ben.

With a promise to meet up over the weekend, Matthew and Peter went back to their group of friends. Riley followed Ben through the crowd and to the car.


	4. Chapter 4

After they left the pub, Ben drove back to his house to do some research. He seemed preoccupied as he took off his coat, and hung it up on the hook beside the door. Ben had in fact, hardly said a word to Riley on the drive back. He hadn't even complained when Riley had scanned the radio dial to search for some "good music".

Ben headed straight to his computer to start delving in as much information on the subject as he could. He barely even glanced up when Abigail came home an hour later from work. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before letting him get back to work on his newest obsession.

She found Riley in the kitchen, eating a sandwich at the kitchen table. He grinned up at her, before taking another bite. "What is this new project of Ben's?" Abigail asked, sitting across the table from him.

"We went to see Mrs. Harsham. She wrote him a letter a while ago, she wants us to go down into these tunnels under the city and find this rare book. It's from Belgium. "

"Riley, are you staying for dinner?"

"Ok thanks. Do you need help with cooking?"

Abigail laughed. "Last time I let you cook you burnt the meatloaf. It was completely inedible. I think I can manage on my own." Riley frowned slightly. " Y'know, Im actually a pretty good chef. That was just one time."

Abigail laughed, looking at the near-pout on Rileys face." I know you can cook, I'm just kidding. I'll let you cook next time, if you want. Go play the Wii or help Ben on his research. Supper will be done in a bit."

Riley spent the next while playing Just Dance on the Wii, before joining Ben and Abigail to spaghetti and green salad. Over supper, he listened to Abigail gossip about some coworkers' problems, then listened to Ben give an entire history of some obscure battle.

After dinner, Abigail drove Riley back to his apartment. She waited until he went into his apartment building before starting to drive off. He waved through the glass to her, then went up the stairs.

Ben called him early on Sunday morning, to let him know that Peter wanted to go into the tunnels in an hour. Riley quickly hopped in the shower, and got dressed in jeans and a grey Patriots hoody. He gulped down a bowlful of frootloops, grabbing his cell phone and wallet on the way out the door. Ben and Peter were already parked outside on the street when he got in the backseat.

As soon as Ben started to drive off, Riley flipped his hood up and leaned against the car door. He was nearly asleep when they pulled into a drivethru ten minutes later.

When Riley opened his eyes, he saw Ben watching him through the mirror.

"I know it's really early, you look exhausted. Do you want a coffee to wake you up?"

Riley nodded tiredly, then settled back against the door. He was never a morning person, so a steaming hot cup of coffee was definetly welcome. It didn't help that he'd stayed up late watching a Terminator movie marathon until two AM. He was going to need at least two more hours before he was going to be any help whatsoever.

He awoke an hour later to Ben shaking him lightly. "Riley...get up. We're here." He took his hood down, and looked bleary-eyed out the car window to their new surroundings. They were in an alley, parked between two derelict looking buildings. He took his coffee out of the cupholder, and started to gulp it down.

By the time they entered the tunnels, He was wide awake. Ben handed him a bright yellow flashlight, and they set off into the tunnels.


	5. Chapter 5

For the next few hours, Ben Riley and Peter explored the tunnels. They used the blueprints as a guide to finding their way through the labrynth of corridors branching off into each different direction. Peter showed them all the tunnels that he and Matthew had already explored. They had marked each tunnel with chalk, so they would know which ones still needed to be searched.

By the afternoon, Riley was starting feel hungry. He retraced his steps back to where Ben and Peter were kneeling on the ground, studying the blueprints. They had already searched six corridors beteween the three of them, running their hand along the stone walls, trying to feel any hidden buttons or symbols to indicate where the book was hidden.

Riley sat down beside Ben, tucking his hands inside his hoodie sleeves to warm them up. "I'm hungry," he muttered, watching them pore over the papers. Ben was drawing small X's on the areas they had already covered.

Neither of them really paid him much attention, as he stood up and started walking down the hallway. "I'm going to meet you at the car," he told them over his shoulder.

It didn't take long before he realized that he was completely lost. None of the hallways had chalk lines on the walls, and he didn't even know if he was going in the right direction. When he tried to backtrack to get back to find Ben and Peter, he couldn't see anything familiar. Panic was starting to set in, as he realized that he was completely alone, deep under Baltimore, with no way of contacting anyone. He chided himself for leaving his cellphone in Ben's car.

He rushed down the corridor, feeling the rough hewn stone wall with one hand, as he held the flashlight in the other. The light was bobbing erratically in front of him as he ran, bouncing off the walls and the dirt floor. His left hand, gripped tightly around the flashlight shook slightly with fear as he quickly sprinted down the hall. He had no idea how far Ben and Peter were, and his breathing was definitely quickening at an unhealthy rate as he thought about all the possible scenarios that could go wrong, mostly of him being stuck down in these tunnels forever and Ben finding the corpse of his dead friend. His over-active imagination brought forth all sorts of grisly and horrendous images to mind, which only spurred him to go faster.

"Ben! Can you hear me?" He called out, his voice echoing slightly against the stone wall. He heard no response. Suddenly in a moment of clumsiness, Riley found himself running no more. Tripping over his own feet, he quickly pitched forward and hit the dirt floor with a painful crash. His hands were torn up from trying to catch himself, and his left knee was bloodied as well. But aside from his slight injuries, and his scuffed clothes, he now had another problem to deal with. The flashlight, which he'd dropped as he had been falling, now lay a few feet from him. As Riley lay on the ground, catching his breath, he watched in horror as the flashlight in front of him flickered for a few seconds before shutting down altogether. Riley was alone in the dark.

"SHIT!" Riley shouted, as he grabbed the light and sat up. He repeatedly pushed the on/off button with no results. He unscrewed the lid and took the batteries out, and reassembled it, hoping that it would continue working. It didn't. A quick search of his pockets revealed he had neither matches nor a lighter, and now his sole source of light was broken. He put the broken flashlight into his hoody pouch, before standing up, his right hand steadying himself against the wall. Standing perfectly still, he tilted his head to the side as he listened for any noises ahead. Apart from his own breathing, he heard no other sounds whatsoever. The darkness was overwhelming. Riley stood there for a moment waiting for his eyes to adjust, but it didn't help any. He couldn't see anything in the pitch black, not even when he waved his hand in front of his face.

Riley continued walking at a much slower pace then his frenzied running from before. He kept his right hand running against the cold stone wall as he walked, while his left hand moved in front of him. He continually waved it back and forth in front of him to feel for obstacles, but so far there were none. He called out again for Ben a few times, listening for a response each time, but he never got one. After an hour of slowly walking along the drafty corridor, he finally came to a stop.

At the end of the hallway, was a large wooden door. He felt around for the doorknob, and managed to pull it open, though it was incredibly heavy. When he'd pulled it open, he found a musty smelling set of wooden stairs that led upwards. There was still no light, so he felt his way up the long set of stairs much like he'd done with the corridor behind him. At a snail's pace. At last, the stairs ended, and he found himself pulling open another equally heavy door. This time, Riley was met with a fantastic sight. Light! A small electric lightbulb buzzed quietly behind its' metal cage on the ceiling of the room he'd just entered. Although the light it produced was actually quite dim and yellowish, Riley shut his eyes tightly upon entering the room because his eyes had been so adjusted to the pitch black. Once he was able to open them again properly, he got a good look of his surroundings.

He was standing in a basement of a building, filled with odd ends of broken furniture, and boxes stacked on one corner of the room. There were a few pieces of garbage on the floor, and the poor lighting made everything look incredibly creepy. At the far end of the room, beside a pile of wooden crates, was a steel door with a pushbar. Riley grinned at the sight, before walking towards it. He pushed tentatively on the bar, and much to his delight he found that it was unlocked. After another flight of stairs, he was faced with two identical looking doors. He had no idea which was the door that could lead him to Ben, so he went with door number 1.

Riley opened the door, and stepped in. "Ben?" he called out, before gaping at the scene in front of him. He'd walked into a diner. An old-looking diner with ripped cushions and a tired looking waitress staring at him curiously. As he had called out Ben's name upon entering, all of the customers had turned their heads towards him. Most of them were elderly couples out for sunday lunch, with a few families strewn amongst them. He was scanning the tables for any familiar faces when the waitress walked over to him and stood in front of him.

"You look a right mess," She told him. "If you need to wash up there is a bathroom just down there," she pointed it out to him. He then realized why people were still staring at him, once he'd looked down at his clothing to see all the dust and dirt that had gathered on his jeans and hoody. not to mention the bloody knee and palms.

"I'm looking for my friend. His name is Ben. Ben Gates. He's older then me, about forty. Kinda tall. Would've been with another guy around the same age." Riley told her, all in one breath, still scanning the crowds hopefully, although he already knew at that point that Ben was obviously not here.

"No, I don't think I saw anyone like that." She murmured, before putting a hand on his shoulder. "Kid, are you ok? Are you in some kind of trouble?" She had a concerned parent-type look on her face.

Riley took a deep shuddering breath, before answering her. " We were searching the underground tunnels, and now Ben is gone, and I need to find him. I was supposed to meet him ages ago, but I got lost."

The whole time Riley was trying to explain the story to her, she was gently pushing him over to an empty seat. He sat down on the vinyl covered bench and slouched back a little. She left for a minute before returning with a mug of hot chocolate, and a first aid kit. She handed Riley the hot drink, who took it gladly. "thanks," he muttered, before taking a sip. After a few gulps, he started to feel the warmth of the drink spread throughout his entire body. When he was done, he took the first aid kit into the bathroom and used it to clean out the dirt from his knee, before putting a bandaid on it, and one of his hands. He spend a few minutes trying to shake the dust out of his clothes, and wiping most of it off his face.

When he reentered the diner, he felt alot more clean, and a lot less desperate. It had now been a few hours since he'd seen Ben. He needed access to a computer, and a phone. He went to the counter and returned the first aid kit to the waitress. When he took out his wallet to pay, he was surprised when she shook her head. "It's on the house, don't worry about it." She told him, smiling at looked down at her nametag pinned to her blouse. Martha. "Thanks, Martha." He told her, returning the smile. As he was heading out the door, she called out to him. " Good luck finding your friend,"


	6. Chapter 6

Riley wanted to find Ben, but he didn't have anything on him to acheive that goal. His cellphone and his laptop were all sitting in Ben's car. He knew that Ben still had his phone on him, so after he left the diner the first thing he did was look for a payphone. He dialed Ben's number, and hoped that he would pick up. Unfortunately it went straight to voicemail.

"Ben...uh, hey this is Riley. Where are you? I'm outside this diner. You can't call me back 'cause I left my phone in your car. I'm going to the library, so if you're looking for me, go there. ok, bye"

When he was done leaving the message, he hung up the phone. A quick search of the phonebook gave him the library's address. Riley quickly flipped his hood up before he started walking. Now that he was out of the tunnels, he realized how cold it was getting. Leaves were flying in tiny swirling eddies up the street, making skittering sounds across the pavement. He tugged on the drawstring on his hood, then buried his hands deeply into the front pouch of his shirt.

By the time he'd finished walking the six blocks, his hands were a bit numb. He nearly ran into the library, heading straight to the bank of computers. He signed one out for the remainder of the hour. It didn't take long before he had a hit on the GPS on Ben's cellphone. It looked like Ben must have checked his voicemail already because the GPS showed that he was heading up the same street that the library was located on.

Riley quickly logged off the computer, and rushed outside. A few minutes later, Ben's car slowed down, and pulled up at the curb. Peter was riding shotgun, so Riley opened the passenger door, and slid in.

"Dude, you guys ditched me! Holy Lord, it's freezing out there."

"We've been looking for you for quite some time, Riley. You ditched US."

"Nooo...I was in the tunnel, and I wandered off. When I came back you guys were gone. Then my flashlight broke and I was down there forever. It was so creepy and dark. I was so worried about you guys. Ben, I thought you ditched me there."

"Well, I guess we did, but not purposely. Peter heard you say you would meet us at the car, so we went to find you, but you weren't there. We've been looking around for you all over the area. When you called my voicemail, I drove straight to the library to pick you up."

Everyone was really hungry at this point, so they drove around the neighbourhood looking for a place to eat. They ended up back at the same diner that Riley had entered earlier, looking for Ben and Peter.

When they came in and sat down, Martha smiled in recognition at Riley. She handed out menus. "Looks like you found your friends," Martha told him, passing him a menu. He nodded, while both Peter and Ben looked from Martha to Riley quizzically.

After she had walked away, Peter turned to Riley. "What was that about?"

Riley then told them briefly about how he'd spoken to her earlier, after he'd exited the tunnels.

They enjoyed a meal of club sandwiches and rhubarb pie with their coffee. Riley made sure to give her an extremely generous tip after their meal, to pay her back for her kindness as well as the free drink he'd received earlier.


	7. Chapter 7

They continued to work in the tunnels on Sunday. This time, Riley made sure to bring his cellphone with him, just in case he got lost, which he didn't. They checked a few more tunnels, before stopping to take a lunch break. It was getting colder in the tunnels, so they had to wear gloves and toques.

There was still no sign of the book, so they methodically kept checking all the tunnels for hours, marking the walls with chalk each time they were finished.

Every weekend they continued to search the tunnels, sometimes just the three of them, and a few times they brought Matthew or Abigail. By Mid-November, they had nearly finished marking the tunnels on the blueprints.

Mrs. Harsham invited everyone over for a dinner on Friday night, so after work, Ben and Abigail picked up Riley and drove to her house. Matthew and Peter were already there. They all sat down around the dinner table. Riley sat between Abigail and Peter.

"So, how is progress going in the tunnels?" asked Peter, as she scooped out some caesar salad and passed the dish to Matthew.

"Well, we've checked most of the tunnels, and so far we haven't found any sign of the book. We're going down tomorrow and Sunday as well."

The group chatted amongst themselves over their dinner of lasagna, salad and apple crumble. It was a pleasant evening, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensly. When it was time to go, chatted in the living room with Ben and Peter, while Riley and Abigail offered to wash up the dishes and put away the leftovers.

As they made their way back to their cars, there was a quick discussion of when to meet up the next morning to explore the remainder of the tunnels.

When Ben, Riley and Abigail pulled up at the alley in Baltimore early the next morning, they only had to wait a few minutes before Matthew and Peter pulled up.

"It's a cold one, this morning!" Peter told them, shoving his gloved hands deep into his jacket pockets. There was a few inches of snow on the ground, and the temperature had dropped greatly since the last time they'd visited the tunnels.

Riley was bundled in a large, black and orange winter jacket. He was wearing blue mittens and a wool earflap chullo hat. The only part of him that was feeling the cold was the tip of his nose, and his feet, still clad in his black hightops.

The group worked steadily for two hours, and were about to take a break when there was a discovery in the tunnel. Riley had been paired off with Matthew and Peter, while Ben and Abigail were working in another section.

Riley didn't really feel comfortable around Matthew, as he rarely spoke or interacted with anyone else but Peter. The few times Riley tried to make eye contact and hold a conversation with him about any subject was usually one-sided, and seemed pointless. Peter was much friendlier around Riley, and when they were paired up together, they were able to chat about all kinds of subjects while they worked.

Riley was listening to Peter's story about his niece's third birthday party, while feeling the stone wall with his mittened hand. Suddenly, under his fingers he felt a section was slightly raised like a button. He pushed on it with some force, and the he heard the sound of stone against stone.

"Peter! I think I found something!" Riley shouted to him, excitedly. Peter and Matthew came running over to stand beside him. Riley shone his flashlight in to the small opening that had been made, and revealed a book wrapped in a large piece of material.

Peter's eyes lit up as he carefully reached in, and pulled out the heavy book with both hands. "We found it," He told his companions. "Oh My God. My grandma is going to be so happy when I show her."


End file.
